The Flow Hive.

The Flow Hive. It seems too good to be true. Honey on tap. You can see the video of how it works here.

Inventors of Flow Hive

It’s an innovative beehive invention that claims to revolutionize the way honey is collected. An Australian father and son team have created a new honey super that allows you to extract honey without disturbing the hive.

The Flow Hive frames can be designed to fit conventional beehives so it would seem you can just use the flow frames in your existing hive. The Flow Hives have been field tested for the past 3 years and the reviews sound promising.

Commercial Flow Hive

With the Flow Hive there is no need to dismantle the hives and remove the frames for extraction. No smokers, no centrifugal extractors, no back-breaking work of pulling honey supers. Instead you just turn a lever which opens the channel within the honeycomb and the honey drains to a pipe at the back of the hive directly into your container of choice. Meanwhile, back in the hive, the bees are virtually undisturbed as the honey drains from under their feet. When you’re finished draining you just turn the lever back and the cells are reset and ready to be refilled. The bees then uncap the combs and start again without being disturbed.

Flow Hive Honey Channel

This eliminates much of the labor involved in harvesting honey. You don’t even really need to be present. As a matter of fact, they say there is potential for remotely activated or automatic honey extraction.

The inventors hope to raise substantial capital to begin manufacturing the Flow Hive.

The Flow Lite

Stuart and Cedar Anderson, the father/son inventors, hope to raise significant capital to begin manufacturing the Flow Hive but acknowledge that “You never know what will happen when you put a new idea up on a crowd funding site.” There has been much anticipation and the unveiling will happen any minute. As I’m writing this I’m switching back and forth to their Facebook page to see when the crowd funding goes live. It just went live and here is the link. In the first few minutes they’ve surpassed their goal of $70,000! This is definitely something to keep an eye on, perhaps even out in our own fields.

---

Criticisms of the Flow Hive

The following are summaries of opinions shared with us on Facebook. They are not necessarily endorsed by Keeping Backyard Bees, Mother Earth News, or Grit Magazine. 

• Robbing may be a concern.
• Exorbitant cost.
• May not be appropriate for colder climates (other than Australia, where it is produced).
• Possible legality issues.
• May encourage predators, and give them even easier access to honey.
• May be more efficient at honey harvesting, but may be more disruptive to the “superorganism” that is the hive.
• Bees may not have enough space to properly move and clean the hive.
• As such, the Flow Hive system with its enhanced production has been likened to battery-caged hens.
• In-hive pests (such as varroa or hive beetles) may be different in different climates (ie: United States vs. Australia, where the Flow Hive was invented and produced).
• Disease: Plastic may absorb chemicals (such as miticides) used in consequence.
• The tubes (if improperly sealed) are a pipeline for ants, wasps, or raiders.
• Images don’t really show the possible interaction between bees themselves and the deposit jars.
• May rob the hive of too much honey when bees need it most.
• Inexperienced beekeepers may think this is a simple solution and/or believe that it will eliminate the maintenance that accompanies beekeeping.
• A worry about moisture content in the honey produced (ie: the need to still inspect hives, which defeats much of the purpose of the flow system).
• Bees prefer naturally-built comb, not plastic. May stress them out and/or disturb their natural seasonal cycles.

The following are longer quotations by various beeks of various opinions.

Original photo posted by Bee Love Apiaries.

Brisbane Backyard Bees -“I like to view a hive of bees as a complex organism which includes the comb, an essential functioning part, constructed from flakes of wax produced from the bees’ abdomens [called the “superorganism”]. And our job as humans: to support this organism to perform as naturally as possible whilst sharing the harvest that the bees so graciously give up.
“The Flow Hive is a machine with moving parts and plastic comb. It may well fit our needs as consumers needing to have everything on tap – when we want it – now. And it certainly moves us one step further away from getting our hands dirty with the creatures that contribute to our food system. But what would the bees make of it? Does it support the natural cycles of this “superorganism”?
“Flow Hive honey extraction is less disturbing for the bees, but it needs to be emphasised that honey extraction is only one reason for opening a hive – there are maintenance tasks and biosecurity considerations.”